Katie introduces The Mummy (Stephen Sommers, 1999) by giving a quick plot synopsis. Darcy describes the VHS cover. 

The three go on to discuss their personal memories of seeing The Mummy.

Some analysis of the problematic nature of Egyptology ensues. 

They compare it to Anaconda (Luis Llosa, 1997).

They talk about the stars, especially Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.

Then the three have a fun rapid question and answer session before wrapping up. 

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MJ introduces her nostalgia pick, Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, 1996).  The four go on to discuss:

• personal reminiscences of seeing the film originally
• how it was aggressively marketed to teenage girls
• music videos & cinematic form
• the soundtrack
• Roger Ebert's review & boomer misunderstandings of the MTV generation
• was Shakespeare punk?
• would Shakespeare be cancelled if he was alive today?

Then the group answers the pressing questions:

• what costume would you wear to the ball?
• marry/fuck/kill for Leo, Claire, and Paul Rudd

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Twitter: @vhs_glow

As per usual, the episode launches with a fun recap, i.e. a description of the original VHS cover art of The Matrix (Wachowskis, 1999).

Joe hosts this week (as the film was his selection), prompting Darcy, Katie, and MJ to share their memories of seeing The Matrix in its original theatrical release. 

From there, the four discuss: 

• the philosophy of Baudrillard & The Matrix  & his misinterpretation of Zion as "the real"
• The Matrix as trans narrative & the messy process of birthing oneself
• the wave of real-world violence in the wake of The Matrix: Columbine, the Matrix defense, and miscellaneous crimes 
• the role of violent media in the edgelord to alt right/white supremacist pipeline

Additional Resources: 

Lilly Wachowski on transness of The Matrix

The Matrix & Real World Violence

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As usual, we get a recap that is basically a description of the VHS tape before launching into our discussion on  The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. 

Darcy discusses how she first saw it and why it was her pick for this episode. Joe, Katie, and MJ talk about the film's camp status.

Further topics include:

• the odd demonization of gays as seen in the Dom DeLuise character Melvin P. Thorpe
• the real life drama of the Chicken Ranch
• how much we love Dolly
• how the gay football team helps define its camp classic status
• the Mona-Ed Earl relationship
• weird racial tropes of the 80s
• its potential copaganda status
• departures from the stage play
• casting
• Charles Durning's WTF oscar nomination for his role of the governor

Then we cap it off with some rapid fire trivia questions, followed by more open-ended questions. 

As always, we wrap the episode up with some closing thoughts. 

Additional Resources:

Dolly Parton & Patti Labelle

Roger Ebert

Siskel & Ebert Review

Camp and the Gay Sensibility

Colin Higgins

Doc Hopper

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In typical VHS Glow fashion, the four hosts discuss their nostalgia-relationship to The Princess Bride, including first viewing context, family & school screenings, & what their younger selves felt about the movie. 

Joe gives a queer interpretation but then veers left and talks about Chernobyl. 

Further topics include:

• GenX vs millennials
• the definition of "feel good" movies & why the Simmons family disprefers them
• Blue Velvet (1986) hermeneutics, or what's inside the lawn of S. Morgenstern's seemingly picture-perfect narrative
• the life sucks yet true love prevails narrative
• Chernobyl & 80s catastrophes
• comedy and Americanization
• Chernobyl & Cheetos (specifically, fluorescent cheese dust coating as boron & sand mixture dumped on reactor 4)
• Chernobyl & Cheez Whiz
• film culture & the desire to return to simple/idyllic narratives during (& after) times of existential crisis
• the first sensational national headline story each host remembers
• wtf is up with that grandfather/grandson dynamic?
• a discursive shift in 1990s best picture academy award winners
• & much more!

Additional Resources:

Wallace Shawn on Woody Allen

Princess Bride: Home Movie

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We cover a lot of ground in this episode!

Autymn tells us why A Goofy Movie is a black nerd classic. Joe then gives us a dose of queer fan fiction. Then we discuss a microcosm of topics, including:

• the "down low"
• Art Babbitt, the genesis of the Goofy character, minstrelsy, black representation, phrenology AKA the pseudo-science of skull shape & Goofy's bump
• the racism of Disney & why old cartoons aren't on Disney+
• Goofy's mode of existence as proof that mistakes are ok
• parent-child role reversal
• Jeffrey Katzenberg & the checkered history of A Goofy Movie
• A Goofy Movie's marginal placement within the Disney Renaissance & its cult status
• Disney + Miramax = Joe hates (and rants about) Oscar campaigning
• a roast of Gwyneth Paltrow
• childhood afternoon cartoon programming blocks
• the "fork in the road" movie: the movie that thrusts you right into adulthood

Additional Resources:

https://theoutline.com/post/7549/a-goofy-movie-black-classic

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/rjn24j/is_a_goofy_movie_one_of_the_bestmost_under/

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High Art is a fabulous yet ultimately tragic story of two star-crossed lovers. Syd (Radha Mitchell), a struggling/aspiring editor at a high end photography magazine, meets Lucy (Ally Sheedy) almost by accident. Lucy, as it turns out, is a has-been yet still talented photographer who Syd quickly sees as her way to the top. However, both women are in relationships: Lucy with fading German actress Greta (Patricia Clarkson), Syd with milquetoast James (Gabriel Mann).  Lucy and Syd fall in love and push each others' careers, only to meet a tragic end. 

We talk about so many things in this episode, from poststructuralism to relationships to queer death in film & so much more!

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

Katie, MJ, and Joe return after a brief hiatus to discuss not one, but two films! (Don’t worry, Darcy will be back soon!)  

First, License to Drive (1988) provides fertile ground for theorizing a Jacob’s Ladder-esque, life-before-his-eyes story structure wherein Les Anderson (Corey Haim) dies at the end and the film circles back upon itself, Finnegans Wake style. Other topics include: Teenage deceit, personal experiences getting our licenses, the snowballing of lies, North by Northwest, patrilinear murder, Heather Graham as fey or chaos witch, the problematic nature of putting a vulnerable woman in a trunk, the greedy 80s/the reward system of cheating, and more...

Second, we have Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (1991), Katie and Joe’s childhood fave. Nostalgic reflections ensue! Katie warmly remembers how Joe would constantly watch the VHS (recorded off of HBO) as their after school ritual. Joe recounts how Christina Applegate’s character Swell exemplified the “not a girl, not yet a woman” theme. MJ theorizes that it’s an existential survivalist thriller. Other topics include: adulthood as service, the douchey business world (“Fake it ‘til you make it!”), sexist reviews, iconic lines (“I’m right on top of that, Rose!”), twinning, latchkey kids, gender role reversal... among other things!

Then we cap it off with a compare/contrast.

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